Photos by David Gard/New Jersey Local News ServiceAn autographed Giants football and other items that will be buried in Bernards time capsule on Saturday.

BERNARDS — A time capsule laden with train schedules, supermarket circulars and other references to daily life in Bernards will be buried next weekend in honor the township’s 250th anniversary.

Those who uncover the capsule in 100 years will also discover remnants of today’s youth through their contributions, various references to today’s pop culture including a Taylor Swift doll and a set of silly bands, the wildly popular pre-teen wristwear that comes in seemingly countless shapes.

The public is invited to the 11 a.m. Saturday, burial in front of Town Hall. The contents of the capsule will be on display starting at 9 a.m. and $20 “Bernards Bucks” messages can be added until 10.

Throughout the year, groups have collected and donated memorabilia to be sealed in the 2-foot-by-2-foot capsule as a message to future residents.

Among the many events and activities over the year celebrating the township’s past, the 250th Anniversary Task Force decided to plan something that looked to the future, according to Toby Spitzer, a Task Force member who took the lead on the capsule project.

After some back and forth, the panel decided to bury the capsule for a century so that the items inside would be more noteworthy, she said.

“There were different schools of thought,” she said. “At 50 years, people would be there who remembered it being buried, but at 100 years, we felt that the items would be more historically significant.”

Probably the most valuable thing that will be buried is a football autographed by the New York Giants. It was donated by the team to William Annin Middle School after it was chosen the eighth grade’s favorite sports team. But memorabilia seekers beware — the capsule will be buried in full view of the police department, Spitzer said.

In an effort to include the township’s youth in the project, each grade in Bernards schools was given a category, such as favorite food, book or car, to vote on for inclusion in the capsule. As a result, the future openers will find an empty container of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, a copy of “Diary of a Whimpy Kid,” and a model of a Porche 911.

One thing that future Bernards residents won’t find is an iPod, smartphone or any other technological gadget. Though central to modern lives, organizers decided to avoid items that might be difficult to interpret in 100 years, such as CDs for which players may no longer exist, Spitzer said.

As a solution, rather than put in a CD of pop songs, sheet music was included.

“Presumably, they’ll still be reading sheet music in 100 years,” she said.

The stainless steel capsule, worth about $2,500, was donated by Summit Medical Group, while Gallaway & Crane Funeral Home donated a granite marker for the burial site.
Tom Marak, president of Time Capsules Inc., will be on-site to hermetically seal the capsule, a process that takes about 45 minutes.

The process ensures that when the capsule is opened, a scene will not unfold like the one last year in Somerville, when a 50-year-old capsule was opened and many of the items had been damaged. Time capsules from that era often turn up damaged, or even missing, he said.

“People used the wrong materials,” said Marak, who has been selling time capsules for 25 years. “Years ago, it was nobody’s fault. The product wasn’t there.”

Before it is bolted shut and buried, the items will be placed inside a cotton sack along with a chemical for preservation, he said. A vacuum will then suck the air out of the capsule, which is replaced with argon gas.

“If we didn’t do this, we’d have nothing more than a can with a lid on it when it’s opened,” he said.